A criticism of education alongside a realization for why there are subjects I hold much more near and dear to my heart.

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Our society is very oriented around answering questions. In our childhood, we are bombarded by tests. In the workforce we’re hired based on ‘what we know’ and ‘what we can do’. What’s too often overlooked as an important quality is ‘what we can figure out’. The issue is that the most crucial step in the scientific method is neglected: asking questions. My focus is asking questions. I believe it's my ability to inquire that has put me on the path to achieving my goal of a comprehensive understanding of how things work. I believe my genuine interest in mathematics and science, coupled with my proclivity to question that will lead me to my goal.

One of my favorite aspects of science is that the conflicts of ideologies aren't resolved with weapons, warfare, and demagoguery but with reason and rationality. Moreover, these conflicts even promote scientific advancement as their resolution and the disproving of one thing or another is in the best interest of the entire scientific community because they are all united by one overarching objective: to uncover the truth about reality. Specifically, I'm drawn to Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science all for the same reason: I want to understand the universe by studying its phenomena and these three topics of study are the tools I need in order to do so. Mathematics is the most fundamental of these; math is direct, descriptive, and concise in representing our world.

I find Mathematics and Physics so profound because the laws discovered in their study not only existed before humans, but have existed since the beginning of time and space. This means we're discovering the indisputable and invariant laws of the cosmos. Thus, these discoveries are the closest to absolute truth one may achieve. This is remarkable. The inherent integration of mathematics and physics with reality provides them with a certain beauty that’s unique to the sciences. It is this beauty that attracts me.

I think that math’s infinite reach and multitude of approaches makes it the most formidable field. Just as there is not only one way to solve a problem, there is not only one way to understand a concept or principle of mathematics. Another appealing quality is the description of perceptibly inaccessible attributes/objects (such as the geometric 4th dimension) using mathematics.

However, the most interesting thing about the world, which Mathematics allows us to identify, is its interconnectedness. The relations between superficially discrete phenomena can become integrally connected from a comprehensive Mathematical view. The depth of Mathematics is incredibly intimidating and to understand even a fraction of it would be an incredible feat. If, as Richard Dawkins has said, science is the poetry of reality, then mathematics is the language of reality.

As we see from the scientific method, true understanding starts with questioning. It takes curiosity to uncover a new world or way of thinking and it takes creativity to explain that new world using personally developed tools.